The present invention relates to a packet for wet tissues in which wet tissues are contained in a bag and are picked from the bag through a pick-up port one by one, and particularly to a packet for wet tissues which is portable and disposable.
In recent years, wet tissues have come to be extensively made available for business and domestic use, with the yearly increased consumption. A wet tissue is formed of a fabric sheet such as a nonwoven fabric impregnated with an impregnant such as a chemical or decorative agent, and is used for wiping the backsides of babies, removing stains from hands, disinfecting hands, and the like.
A packet for wet tissues has two types: one contains wet tissues in a box-like vessel; and the other contains them in a bag. In the former type, the box-like vessel is formed of a hard or semi-hard plastic molded product, and it contains folded wet tissues or a rolled wet tissue. The packet for wet tissues using the box-like vessel enables the repacking of the folded wet tissues or a rolled wet tissue.
On the other hand, in a packet for wet tissues using a bag, folded wet tissues are contained in a bag formed of an air-tight film, which is used as portable and disposable.
One example of the packet for wet tissues having a bag containing structure is disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. HEI 2-30948. The packet is so constructed that wet tissues are contained in a bag formed of an air-tight film. The bag is sealed at a center seal portion and at both end seal portions. A separable half-cut portion for forming a wet tissue pick-up port is provided on the upper surface of the bag, and a flap-like lid formed of an air-tight film is stuck on the half-cut portion for covering it by means of an adhesive applied on the back surface of the lid. When the lid is pulled up upon unsealing, the separable half-cut portion is pulled up together with the lid, to be separated from the pick-up portion, thus opening the pick-up portion. In this way, although the separated piece is bonded with the back surface of the lid, an adhesive surface is present around the separated pieces on the back surface of the lid, and accordingly, when the lid is closed, the adhesive surface is stuck on the film surface around the pick-up port, thus fixing the lid.
The packet disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. HEI 2-30948, however, has a disadvantage that since the lid is fixed by the adhesive force, after the lid is repeatedly opened/closed by several times, the adhesive surface is stuck with dust or refuse and is gradually reduced in its adhesive force, with a result that the sealing performance upon closing the lid is gradually deteriorated.
Moreover, since the bag is formed of a softening material such as a plastic film, wrinkles tend to be generated around the pick-up portion by opening/closing the lid, and consequently, there occurs an accident in which the adhesive surface of the lid is bonded with the film surface thus wrinkled, to thus close the lid. This leads to a reduction in the sealing performance.
The sealing performance of the lid is important for a packet for wet tissues. The imperfect sealing of the lid causes the volatilization of an impregnant such as a chemical or decorative agent impregnated in wet tissues, resulting in a critical defect.
In the packet provided with such a flap-like lid, it is difficult to speedily open/close the lid, and also it is impossible to open the lid by one hand.
On the other hand, U.S. Pat. No. 4,185,754 discloses a packet of a type in which wet tissues are contained in a bag, wherein a collar is mounted on a pick-up port provided on a bag, and a cap is provided on the collar through a hinge, thus sealing the pick-up port by the cap.
In the packet disclosed in this document, however, for picking up a wet tissue, a user must insert the fingers in the pick-up port to catch the folded end portion of the wet tissue for picking it from the pick-up port. Such an action is similarly performed for the second and later pick-up of wet tissues. It is very laborious and non-effective to insert fingers in the pick-up port for picking up a wet tissue.
The packet of this type includes the pick-up port having a size enough to allow the insertion of fingers therein for picking up a wet tissue. Namely, since the pick-up port has an excessively large opening area, an impregnant such as a chemical or decorative agent impregnated in wet tissues is volatilized in a large amount when the cap is opened. As a result, in the packet of this type, it is difficult to keep wet tissues in a desirable state for a long period of time.
Japanese Patent Publication No. SHO 64-3722 discloses a method of manufacturing a packet for wet tissues having a structure in which wet tissues are contained in a bag and a flap-like lid is stuck on the upper surface of the bag to cover a wet tissue pick-up port by means of an adhesive. The method includes the steps of forming a separable half-cut for forming a pick-up port of a sealed bag in a continuous air-tight sheet; sticking an opening/closing lid coated with an adhesive at one end and also coated with a pressure sensitive adhesive in the range at least wider than a portion becoming the pick-up port, on the sheet such that the portion coated with the pressure sensitive adhesive covers the portion becoming the pick-up port; placing a sheet like fabric material on the surface of the sheet opposed to that stuck with the opening/closing lid at the portion becoming the pick-up port; wrapping the sheet-like fabric material with the sheet and sealing the longitudinal and lateral openings of the sheet; and cutting the sheet in the lateral direction.
Since the method disclosed in the above document includes the step of coating the lid with an adhesive, the work is very laborious. Moreover, the lid must be stuck after the adhesive coated surface is accurately positioned so as to cover the pick-up port, thus making laborious the work, resulting in the poor workability.